Antilabor forces say it’s welfare for the UAW and Democrats’ union allies. Labor supporters say it falls short of what’s needed as tens of thousands of union members are pushed into early retirement as employers cut back health care coverage.

They’re both talking about a $10-billion provision tucked deep inside thousands of pages of health care overhaul bills that could help the UAW’s retiree health-care plan and other union-backed plans.

It would see the government — at least temporarily — pay 80 cents on the dollar to corporate and union insurance plans for claims between $15,000 and $90,000 for retirees age 55 to 64.

Big businesses with union workers are twice as likely to offer retiree benefits as nonunion ones.

…

Labor advocates say even more funding may be needed.

“It is not enough money,” said former U.S. Rep. David Bonior, a Mt. Clemens Democrat who chairs the board at Washington, D.C.-based American Rights at Work, a labor advocacy group. “That will have to be supplemented to fill the gap.”

If the people can maintain their vigilance for a few more months we can sideline Mao-Bama and his little union minions. I think the people will be angry with the One all the way to the 2012 election. He lacks the ability to check his arrogance for the next three years. How's that hope and change working out for you?

…Who didn't see that one coming?… the unions got all they could during contract negotiations over the years, the risk being that they would run the U.S. car industry into the ground. That having occurred, now non-union and non-car industry citizens are expected to pick up the tab? … I don't think so …

Unions have done nothing to improve the lives of their workers for the past forty years. They strike to have "job security", but fail to realize that job security is just a nice IDEA – especially if the company that you are negotiating with goes out of business. Most Union workers that are intelligent, hard-working and honest would like nothing more than to divest themselves of their Union leadership and stop paying the dues every month because they know they don't need the Union. The Union is only out to protect those that cannot or will not perform their jobs and become nothing more than apologists. Unions are nothing more than socialized workers and socialism drops everyone to the lowest common denominator. There is no incentive to work longer, think smarter or try harder – that is why socialism eventually fails. Also, don't forget how great the results are in our Unionized taught school systems ? I'm sick and tired of subsidizing laziness. How about you ?

Not shocked at all. This corrupt and illegal Administration is doing more harm than any other point in our nation's history. Rather than encourage and reward those hardworking taxpayers who could live within their means, the "Savior" feels it is his obligation to continue pandering and paying off his Union cronies and lobbyist connections, despite all his promises to the contrary. We the people – 2010!

No one REALLY knows what is in HR3200. I've tried to read parts of it but can assure anyone that

a team of top attorneys may not be able to decipher the terms and conditions. The scary fact is not so much what we can understand, it's the terms (such as this $10B that are intentionally hidden and worded in such a way that almost no ordinany person can understand. This is the Obama

Nothing is free, 1st, When Medicare first started it was about $45 for "B" it's gone up with each COLA now over $90, to get bills paid you have to carry Medigap that is an additional $166 a month, if you have an HMO, first it was covered by "B" payment then started an additional charge and co-pays went from $5 up to some being $25 and getting referals was next to impossible as was actually seeing an M.D. This is what will happen with Obama care, it'll mean those that can afford it will have to buy and pay for a supplimental policy or get rationed care from a NP or PA. As a nurse I find these sourses UNACCEPTABLE

Wait a minute. I thought G.M. filed bankruptcy to get out from under those UAW contracts that provided all past retirees with health insurance.

If they didn't do this, what was the point of filing bankruptcy? Was it just to stiff the suppliers of G.M. out of the money they were owed?

Not only are the taxpayers stuck with the GM bailout debt, we are stuck with paying for the "Cash for Clunkers" program and now we learn that Mr. O's health plan will provide the health insurance GM retirees were supposed to get from GM.

The UAW has grabbed every dime of salary increases, benefit increases and pension increases over the past 60 years. Times were good and they made the most of it. Their work got shoddier and their product grew inferior as their hourly rates, benefits and pensions grew larger. They killed the goose that laid thew golden eggs. Their companies are now bankrupt and still they do what they do best, demand more. If they can't get it from their companies, they will demand it from the government, who will take it from the taxpayers, to buy their votes.

Sorry guys, you ate all the cookies in the cookie jar, you can't have mine.

WHERE was all this outrage and moral indignation when W started adding to the deficit with unfunded programs, bailouts, and of course, the WHOPPER the will define his failed legacy, that useless war. The silence was deafening!!!

"$10-billion provision tucked deep inside thousands of pages of health care overhaul bills," without specifying which versions of the bill and the pages and/or paragraph numbers where these provisions are specifically written. Thus, interested persons have no way to trace this assertion and read the specific language being included in the bill.

In this age of fast and lose availability of extreme quantities of information, it is very important to cite references in order to properly establish the authenticity of statements and assertions. Please amend your future reporting to include references when making broad statements that could be true or false opinion or interpretation of events by the author!!

Oh no it was NOT! Many of us were outraged that Bush pushed his deficit spending idea's! Those are facts folks. To just say none spoke out is total obfuscation.

In addition, even if folks did not speak out or speak loud enough, that does not in any way shape of form justify allowing Obama & liberal Democrats their plans to add such debt that it rivals what all 43 previous Presidents incurred!

Bailing out the unions is insane. Unions destroyed the steel industry, the garment industry, & so many more. Which courts that heard the bankruptcy plan were selected by government officials. Those courts allowed the unions to have their way on almost every point in the plan. Hence the government & unions now own what was a private company & the investors lost hundreds of millions.

Even the "Cash for Clunkers" plan was an additional bailout. Lets face it, our tax dollars paid for those trade-ins.

Perhaps those 500,000 people in the auto & associated industries should join the line of the unemployed & we should start over?

Seems Toyota, Hundi (sp?), & the other NON union auto makers are doing just fine. Wonder why??? Those workers in the non union plants still have their jobs AND their company paid benefits, with NO bailout from the taxpayers!

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